以檔案資料為中心，分析清朝政府明慎用刑的恤刑思想，是法制史研究的重要課題。本文撰寫的旨趣，是以恤刑思想為中心，舉例說明各類檔案資料的史料價值。清朝《刑法志》的纂修，反映清朝中央政府的恤刑思想。從《起居注冊》的記載，可以說明康熙皇帝重視人命，留心刑獄。從清朝諸帝《御製文集》的內容，可以說明朝廷對刑清訟簡的期盼。《硃批奏摺》反映了各省州縣擅用私刑的嚴重性，對地方吏治造成嚴重負面作用。地方京控案件發交原先問官覆審，往往造成冤獄。軍機處奏摺錄副及其附件如供單等，含有同治、光緒年間葛品連命案京控案件，奉旨不准仍交原問官覆審，終於真相大白，楊乃武等人平反冤獄，是朝廷明慎用刑的具體表現。

Using the archives as a basis for research, analyzing and understanding the humanitarian consideration given to prisoners in the Qing dynasty is important to the research of legal history. The focus of this article is to explain the value of historical documents in demonstrating the merciful practices in the sentence of the Qing dynasty government. The alteration seen in the Qing dynasty document, ~xing fa zhi”(Torture Method), reflects the theory of applying compassion to punishment as desired by the central government of the Qing. By observing the record ~ci ju zhu ce”(Daily Life Notes), it is clear that the Emperor Kangxi valued human life and exercised compassion in the verdicts. The record gathered from the ~yu zhi wen ji” (Royal Literature Collection), shows that other emperors also expected their governments to adopt the light torture and simplified the litigation procedures. In ~zhu pi zou zhe” (The Emperor’s Reply), the inhumane sentencing conventions of individual provinces were condemned by the Emperor as the practices which negatively affected the local governments. Oftentimes, residents of such province would appeal to the central government to review the case but ultimately, the verdict would remain the same. For example, documents from the Grand Council regarding the murder of Ge Pin Lian during the regimes of Guangxu and Tongzhi show that the case could not be reviewed and as such, the truth was revealed at the time. The Cases in which the judgment was revoked, such as that of Yang Nai Wu, are examples of the use of caution and intelligence by the government in matters of punishment.